St Marys Sports College

Today there is a Spelling Speaker (Jenny Morgan), a science lesson and a P.E lesson. Depending on your form, the times of the Spelling speaker, P.E and Science lesson will vary. Hopefully today you are able to recognise more people, feel more comfortable and make more friends. Rubie Walker (st Mary queen of martyrs) , in YC tells us that she is looking forward the P.E, Science lessons and also to meeting new friends. Gerald Akamavi (Endsleigh primary),in YC also tells us that he is also looking forward to these things but also to meeting his new teachers. Yesterday was brilliant let’s make today even better

Chloe Turner and Cloie Hockney watched a science lesson in F6, yesterday with YP. They were talking about safety in the science lab, and they even learnt how to light a Bunsen Burner. They burnt a piece of Magnesium, it shined very bright! Some of the students looked very worried but it all went ok. The class answered all sir’s questions very well. Molly Wilde said “Science in St. Mary’s is good, and the experiments are really cool!” and her friend Layla Cambelton also commented “I thought it was very good.” Elyshia Hockney explained “Yes, I’m looking forward to science in year 7, it’s better than I thought it would be when I walked through the door.” So it looks like the girls from YP are looking forward to science lessons in year 7. We went to find Mr. Matthews, who is a great science teacher, to find out why he thinks science is important in SMC. “Science is important because it is fun and exciting for the pupils. An also, having a GCSE in science means you can get into any good job quite easy.”

If you have done something you shouldn’t have, like speaking over someone or not doing enough work then you will get a warning.

If you then do it again or something worse then you will get a second warning and your name will go onto the board and you may get moved.

Continuing to do so, after being given 2 warnings, then you will be given a yellow card and you will be sent outside the classroom to be picked up by a member of staff. You will then be given an after school detention.

Jade Thompson in year 8 is a very good sporting personallity at St. Mary’s. She takes part in football, Athletics, Running and next year hopefully rounders and cheerleading. She plays a very big part in sporting events and I think she is a really good person in what she does. “I am really looking forward to cheerleading in year 9, I have wanted to do it and some of my friends do it so its good all round really!” says Jade. Mr Arridge, our head of year quoted about Jade. “Jade Thompson, what can I say about her? She is a role model to everyone.”

Starting st marys can be very nerveracking experience, we’ve all been through it. This fear can start a circulations of rumours. We talked to some year sevens and some soon to be year sevens about the matter.We asked about the different rumours and myths they heard, a very popular myth was getting you head flushed down the toilet. We can promise you this is not true but here are some of the other myths we would like to clear up (also not true).

One myth was about bins. The myth said year sevens are put in bins but only on Thursdays! Alot of rumours were based on bullying, mainly for silly reasons such as wearing a two strap back pack or because you wear a fleece.

These are all untrue rumours. Whilst we were talking to the pupils that were selected another rumour which kept cropping up was the theft of money within the school. If you do get your money stolen or any other items tell a teacher and it will be sorted but it hardly ever happens anyway. Many of you may have heard that Mr Turner is evil but brothers and sisters tend to exagerate, he’s not that bad. If you have heard the most common rumour of all; that the teachers are mean you are mistaken unless ofcourse you are really bad and are disobedient in lessons.

However if you follow the school’s mission is to make every child/student feel safe and unique and if you follow the rules and are considerate of others, your time in school will be the best years of your life.

Year sixes made their way into the academy sports hall. Excitement was in the air as nervous faces filled the room. It was a great start so high expectations are in place for the year ahead.
The flags representing the forms were brought in by a pupil from each one. They were welcomed by the year nine gifted and talented dancers. The countries: USA, China, India, Germany, Poland, Ghana, Australia and Russia.
A media presentation was shown including the eight key elements of this week: skill, teamwork, determination, ambition, focus, speed, strength and sportsmanship.
Mr Fitzpatrick then spoke about expectations in school, “We don’t want to settle for average, we want to be the best school and you help us be the very best school we can be”. He then explained the mission statement, “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength and treat others as you wish to be treated”.
Mrs Hardy came on to show everyone how it is ok to be scared and nervous; then helped them to feel better about the week. She then told them to ask themselves ‘what are they really good at?’
Mrs Wright, the new head of year, came on stage and stated, “Give it a real chance, the more you put into this week, the more you’ll get out.”
After the Olympic oath and the morning offering, the silver medallist, Bryan Steel came and spoke about his achievements in cycling. He told us to value excellence, make friends, respect people, take the opportunity and have fun!
Captain Spell
“I smell bad spelling. Work hard, play hard and live life”

Sizzling, Scientific Lessons!

A range of fun, scientific lessons will be occurring throughout the week on Lab Safety and respiration. A teacher, from the science department, informs us that the theme of tomorrow’s lesson will be Lab Safety. In Thursday’s lesson, the theme of the day will be Respiration. Enjoy!

Elyshia Hockney and Layla Cambelton 7YP
“The school seems very scary and big, but we’re excited.”

Jessica Sweeney 7XC
“Im excited for starting St Marys, but its big and scary”

Ellie Smith 7YP
“My favourite sport is netball because I’m skilled at it.”

Molly Wilde 7YP
“I like gymnastics because I’m flexable.”

Emily Turner 7XP
“Netball is my favourite because I play it at school.”

Katriona Ramsden 7XP
“I like running because I’m fast.”

Yesterday we managed to grab an interview with Mr Fitzpatrick, Head of St Marys Sports College. He took the time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about transition week and how he feels it is going. We asked him many questions which he gave detailed answers to, which will help you to understand and look forward to the activities that will follow throughout the week.
When we were talking to Mr Fitzpatrick he mentioned how much he was looking forward to transition week how he feels it will go. ‘I believe that it’s going to be a wonderful week and I was very excited to see so many new faces this morning in the opening ceremony. I hope this week will all run smoothly and successfully.’
Mr Fitzpatrick gave us a message for the current yr 6s to help calm their nerves and settle in to life at secondary school. ‘Try your hardest at everything and look forward to learning new things.’

Alice Edmondson, Chloe Turner and Cloie Hockney went to interview Alisha Robinson from 8YC about the sport she’s acheiving high in. Alisha is a very dedicated Ballet dancer, she has been dancing since she was 8 years old,she goes to Northern Ballet Theatre in Leeds four times a week, her teacher is Yoko Inchino and has danced with Rudolf Nuervyr, a famous ballet dancer who has sadly died now. The school has adapted to her needs by giving her permission to leave early and have days off when needed. She has future plans to be part of a dancing company.

Marcus Valentine and Kieran Joyce interviewed Mrs Hardy, who is the Transition Coordinater for the Year 7’s and she is there to help you with any problems or queries. We asked her questions in relation to the week a head and what else there is to look forward to.

Mrs Hardy, Are you excited about the week and how do you think it will go? ‘ I extremely excited and I think the week will go perfect like i have planned. I spent ages planing in great detail and it would be a shame if it went wrong.’ What main events have been planned because I have heard that there are a few surprises? ‘ I have lined up 3 famous guests and a lot of activities and lessons which are very educational and enjoyable.’ Are you a proud teacher at St. Mary’s? ‘Yes very proud because of the very supportive, friendly and cooperative staff and students.’ What do you thinkof the new year 7’s? ‘I think that they are very intelligent because of the good decisions that they have made.’

How do you feel towards the week and why? ‘I feel nervous and excited because I like all of the activities that i have planned, however, I don’t want anything to go wrong.’ What is your main worry about the week? ‘ My main worry is the weather because i can’t predict or control the weather.’ Who’s idea was it to have an Olympics week and why is it this years theme? ‘ The staff and sports teachers came up with the idea and it worked so well last year.’ Thank you Mrs Hardy.

Well, it’s finally here: the much anticipated, eagerly awaited Transition Week at St Mary’s College. You are no doubt wondering what the week has in store for you. Well, let’s take a look …

You will be getting involved in a variety of different exciting activities ranging from sports, such as Archery, to working with a highly acclaimed guest poet and Spelling guru!!. You will get the opportunity to mix with new students and hopefully make new life long friends. You will have taster lessons including RE, Science and Literacy as well as getting involved in sports teams and competitions. Exciting, eh?

The guest poet visiting St Mary’s, to work with you, is the highly entertaining Gez Walsh. Gez will introduce you to fun and interesting ways of reading, writing and performing poetry. Fantastic!

Our guest speakers include: Brian Steele (Olympic Cyclist), Jenny Morgan (Marvellous Spelling) and Craig Heap (a retired Commonwealth Games Gold medal winning gymnast.) Wow – how lucky are we to be in the presence of these people?!!!

You will be involved in three different sporting activities during the week. On offer are Archery, Trampolining, Table tennis, Boccia, … and more, much more!! Other sporting celebrities will also be paying a visit and sharing their experience, achievement and accolade to date. A great opportunity for you to learn from some of our greatest sports leaders!

Looking forward to meeting you

Mrs Hardy and Mrs Wright